Near relegation in 1963, and match-fixing

[The Cube]

I wonder if anyone can help me on this. Over the weekend I've heard a second-hand version of a story from the 1960s, and I've not been able to confirm it.


Background - in 1964 a match-fixing scandal in English football was uncovered (after the ringleader sold his story to a scurrilous rag!). It had been going on for the previous couple of seasons and the highest profile villains were from Sheffield Wednesday, then in the top flight. However, it did extend much further, including into other divisions. The ringleader was a former Swindon player, and Mansfield definitely also had players involved.

The tale - what was relayed to me was that one season Reading should have been relegated but were reprieved due to a club involved in the match-fixing scandal being demoted. The other club involved might have been Port Vale, although that part was a bit vague. Now this tale is clearly not correct as it stands, but I wondered if it was an embellished version of a true story.

Facts - the only season in this period when Reading were close to relegation was 1962/63. See:
http://www.royalsrecord.co.uk/seasons/1962.html
Reading stayed up only on goal average, with Bradford Park Avenue being the club to go down instead. Port Vale were in our division and finished third (two teams went up), and Reading did beat them once in the season.

Speculation - did Reading benefit by winning a game when some of the opposition players were playing to lose (whether that be Port Vale or someone else)? If so, that would have saved us, and it could be said that we only stayed up due to match fixing even if Reading weren't involved. Alternatively, did one of the actually relegated clubs have players who threw a game or several games?


So can anyone shed any light on the tale? I can't find it in mentioned any of the normal RFC books, and Google has let me down on any involvement of clubs in our division (apart from Swindon, who went up and who we didn't beat).

[AthleticoSpizz]

I can offer no help, but an interesting tale nonetheless...nothing to do with Mansfield was it?, and am still looking forward to H of R pt6

[M Brook]

Not aware of the RFC connection but the story is true - the BBC even made a film about it - 'The Fix'. Look here -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fix_%28TV_film%29

[M Brook]

I wonder if this 'story' is in fact two stories rolled into one. In 1919 Leeds City were expelled from the Football League because of financial irregularities and replaced with Port Vale.

http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistic ... pelled.htm

Maybe, maybe not, but another interesting snippet of football history none the less.

[oldebiscuit]

I've never heard of any stories regarding match fixing and Reading FC, just Sheffield Wednesday and of course Bruce Grobellar as an individual at Liverpool, but Peterborough United were demoted in 1968 for 'financial irregularities', and swindon the same in 1990, but when Chelsea were found to have done the same thing a year later, they were only fined.

[Barnabas]

Port Vale were expelled from the league in 1968 for financial irregularities, but were voted back in by the clubs. They couldn't be demoted (as Peterborough were around the same time) as they were already in Division 4. Ironic, as they had previously joined the league when they replaced Leeds City (mid season) when that club was expelled for financial irregularities.

The match fixing was done at player level, not club level. Justice was done when the ringleader, having sold his story to the papers, got 4 years.

[Fox Talbot]

'Soccer in the Dock' by Simon Inglis is the best reference to this scandal and I don't recall any mention of Reading in this. Plenty on Swindon though.

We actually lost to Bradford PA on the run-in and lost our last 2 games of the season. The surprise result looks to be beating Cov who were going for promotion. Nothing obvious stands out - however,even though I was young at the time, I have a vague sense there was something odd about the end of season - possibly just the fixture pile-up with 7 games in May.

[Fox Talbot]

Just looked at statto.com - Reading were safe with 2 to play as Bradford had finished all their games.

One of these games was away at Barnsley who needed to win to overtake Bradford. Barnsley won 1-0. Reading made only one team change.

[Mr Angry]

Port Vale were expelled from the league in 1968 for financial irregularities, but were voted back in by the clubs. They couldn't be demoted (as Peterborough were around the same time) as they were already in Division 4. Ironic, as they had previously joined the league when they replaced Leeds City (mid season) when that club was expelled for financial irregularities.

The match fixing was done at player level, not club level. Justice was done when the ringleader, having sold his story to the papers, got 4 years.

Was that Peter Swan?

[Fox Talbot]

Just looked at statto.com - Reading were safe with 2 to play as Bradford had finished all their games.

One of these games was away at Barnsley who needed to win to overtake Bradford. Barnsley won 1-0. Reading made only one team change.

Reading your OP a little more closely and trying to identify that vague sense of something not quite right I once had I'd suggest you might focus on the Halifax - Reading game (11.5.63) which Reading won 2-1 and consequently relegated Bradford PA. Halifax were already down and nothing to play for so it was hardly a surprise result (akin to our 4-0 at Derby in 2008).

Bradford PA spent the next 7 seasons in Div 4 as an increasingly badly run club and were not re-elected in 1970 so, in a sense, this relegation was the beginning of the end. There are still some Bardford PA fans / historians around who might shed some light on this.

[M Brook]

Port Vale were expelled from the league in 1968 for financial irregularities, but were voted back in by the clubs. They couldn't be demoted (as Peterborough were around the same time) as they were already in Division 4. Ironic, as they had previously joined the league when they replaced Leeds City (mid season) when that club was expelled for financial irregularities.

The match fixing was done at player level, not club level. Justice was done when the ringleader, having sold his story to the papers, got 4 years.

Was that Peter Swan?

No - Jimmy Gauld was the one that got 4 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Briti ... ng_scandal

[floyd__streete]

Nothing obvious stands out - however,even though I was young at the time, I have a vague sense there was something odd about the end of season - possibly just the fixture pile-up with 7 games in May.

IIRC that fixture pile-up was caused by the big freeze in the winter of '63?

[M Brook]

Nothing obvious stands out - however,even though I was young at the time, I have a vague sense there was something odd about the end of season - possibly just the fixture pile-up with 7 games in May.

IIRC that fixture pile-up was caused by the big freeze in the winter of '63?

Snowed on Boxing Day (1962) and didnt stop until March!

[dogzbollox]

Prior to moving south of the border and in a former life I was a Prison Officer and had a story related to me by one of my 'charges' shall we say, now before I go any further this probably has nothing to do with Reading Football Club but and names/places will be omitted to protect the innocent/guilty.

The story is that my 'charge' was locked up for being involved with football match fixing - i.e. although he wasn't 'Mr Big' he was the guy that got caught, basically, he had a substantial sum of money in the boot of his car on his way to pay off football player/players before kick-off - the particular game was a lower league Scottish team, and hence the reason he was locked up in a Scottish jail - for those that aren't aware you go to jail in the vicinity of the area in which you commit your crime, or, at least the crime you are caught for.

The con - who incidentally wasn't your general run of the mill prisoner - that is to say he had a level of intelligence above and beyond that of the normal (85%) of heroin/drug addicted prisoners in Scottish jails told me a brief resumee of why he was inside, this whilst finishing off my Glasgow Herald cryptic crossword! Basically it is more widespread than you or I would believe - but only in lower leagues, ''It doesn't happen in the top divisions because the players get paid too much and it would cost way too much to pay them off'' unquote. Although the guy was Scottish he told me he was paid to travel all over the country to 'deliver', some teams were mentioned but not Reading, he didn't get paid that much for doing it he told me, but what he did was to bet his own money on the team that was going to lose/win - he was obviously, to use HNA? terminology, ITK. He also said it didn't always work but probably around 70% of the time it did.

I do know that is roughly how the payoff works because I was 'invited' to carry out a similar thing with horse racing, long time ago - very early 80s - a sum of money would be delivered to me and I was to put it on a certain horse in a certain race, if the horse won I could keep a part of the winnings and in addition I could bet some of my own money on the horse to supplement the winnings. - decided not to do it - the people involved, in what I believe was an effort to recruit me gave me the tip for the horse anyway - came in at 8/1 ...I stuck fiver on it and got £45 back - which at the time was more than half a weeks wages, but had passed the tip on to a couple of workmates - they bet pretty big and took me out that evening - never put my hand in my pocket and still had my £45 in the morning and found a six-pack and a half bottle of gin in my desk drawer from another work colleague that they had passed the tip to.

Slightly off topic I know but thought you might find my experiences interesting...

[SpaghettiHoop]

Nothing obvious stands out - however,even though I was young at the time, I have a vague sense there was something odd about the end of season - possibly just the fixture pile-up with 7 games in May.

IIRC that fixture pile-up was caused by the big freeze in the winter of '63?

Snowed on Boxing Day (1962) and didnt stop until March!

I know - I was stuck in a snowdrift!

[The Cube]

I've located and watched The Fix (it's rubbish, by the way). The only club additional to the above that it mentions as having players involved are Lincoln, but as it's fictionalised that proves nothing. Reading do get a brief look-in, as a videprinter shows a result "Bradford 3 Reading 2". Bit surprising that it didn't distinguish between the two Bradford teams, though.

Anyway, I've done some further digging and haven't been able to answer my original question. But I have discovered two other clubs whose players were involved - Hartlepools (before the name change) and Bristol Rovers.

The latter were in our division, and a game that two of their players tried to throw was away to Bradford Park Avenue near the end of 1962/63. However, it ended in a 2-2 draw. If Bradford PA had won that game - and all other results were unchanged - then they would have finished one point ahead of Reading, but correspondingly Bristol Rovers would then have finished below us on goal average. So we would still have been 20th and stayed up.